SIM Swap

[cfrancoeur21]

I think someone has stolen my SIM number. My service stopped working, and I checked my SIM card number in my phone vs the last 4 digits of the one on my Public Mobile online account and they do not match. I have suspended my service until I can go get a new SIM Card tomorrow. Should I be doing anything else to stop them from getting access to any of my personal accounts? 

[cfrancoeur21]

I did that today, thanks for the suggestion! 

my google account notified me that there was a data breach and only certain accounts were no longer secure. I changed all my passwords just to be sure and have upped my security settings on EVERYTHING. Very thankful I noticed right away. Changed my 2FA on everything as well. 

[darlicious]

@cfrancoeur21 

Whew....that was lucky timing on your part to have noticed right away and to take immediate corrective action to prevent any further loss. How this sim jacking/swapping trend is being enabled unless by data breach is quite the mystery. For your own personal reassurance do a data security review of all your online accounts from PayPal or Amazon.ca to credit cards and any social media accounts to ensure your data is secure as well as your identity. Remove from public view, birthdays, surnames, marriages.....keep all that stuff private.

[cfrancoeur21]

Thank you everyone for your help! A Mod was able to recover my old SIM card. I changed the name on my account. My phone is working again! It doesn’t look like they were able to access anything because I stopped my service as soon as I noticed (which I apparently noticed 5 minutes after it happened!!)

[darlicious]

@cfrancoeur21 

As @gpixel  has suggested change the name on your account this will be the one part of the info required to port your phone number out that you can change that the fraudsters will no longer know if you want to keep your phone number the same. Meryl Streep, Kevin Costner, Coco Chanel or Ralph Lauren it doesnt matter who you become so long as you keep your secret identity......secret.

To port your number out a fraudster only need three pieces of information. Your name, phone number and account number.

[gpixel]

@cfrancoeur21 

• create an email strictly for public mobile
• change your name and address on your self serve account
• don't use your cellphone number as a 2fa for banks, PayPal etc. instead use a family member or buy a speakout simcard and use it only for your 2fa. 7 elevens "pay as you go" doesn't expire for a year.(same thing don't use your real name on it and so on.

[cfrancoeur21]

Okay thank you for explaining.

So if I change my phone number then they won't be able to do that?

[computergeek541]

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@cfrancoeur21 wrote:

How can they switch the phone provider after I've put a new SIM card in? Won't they not have access anymore since the number will be back working on my phone?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, I don't understand phones service.

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Your phone number and account number doesn't change. If whomever took over your account wrote down this information, they can port out.

[cfrancoeur21]

How can they switch the phone provider after I've put a new SIM card in? Won't they not have access anymore since the number will be back working on my phone?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, I don't understand phones service.

[popping]

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@cfrancoeur21 wrote:

Thank you, I will try that.

I changed my password, security questions and suspended service. They shouldn't be able to gain access through any 2 factor authentication now right, since they don't have service?

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Better safe and sorry.  You should call your bank to stop all online transactions ASAP.  Bank phone support 24/7

That guy may already using your bank account using 2FA before you report your phone lost/stolen.  Your bank may not do the 2FA again when that guy using the same device and on the same IP address.  That guy don't need your number working any more.

[computergeek541]

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@cfrancoeur21 wrote:

Thank you, I will try that.

I changed my password, security questions and suspended service. They shouldn't be able to gain access through any 2 factor authentication now right, since they don't have service?

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They wouldn't be able to receive those messages when the service is suspended.  However, when you reactive your service, all they would have to do would be to port your phone number to another carrier. The self serve account gives someone all the information that they need to do that and the unauthorized person could have recorded that information.  Public Mobile really needs to increase account security.

[cfrancoeur21]

Thank you, I will try that.

I changed my password, security questions and suspended service. They shouldn't be able to gain access through any 2 factor authentication now right, since they don't have service?

[Korth]

Change your Self-Serve account password.

Change all your login passwords for everything you do online, especially email and banking/payment stuff and cloud access things. Immediately. On a different (and secure) computer if you can, since you must assume your phone could be compromised. Change your phone screenlock PIN/code, change your voicemail PIN.

Not a bad idea to run malware scans on all your machines, to confirm you aren't hosting some kind of keylogger or backdoor.

You can contact the @CS_Agent through private message.

[computergeek541 · Accepted solution]

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@cfrancoeur21 wrote:

I think someone has stolen my SIM number. My service stopped working, and I checked my SIM card number in my phone vs the last 4 digits of the one on my Public Mobile online account and they do not match. I have suspended my service until I can go get a new SIM Card tomorrow. Should I be doing anything else to stop them from getting access to any of my personal accounts? 

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Change your password and security question/answer immediately.  I would also check with the moderators if they are able to "move" your phone number to a new account.  I know that they normally won't do that, but this is important as anyone who had access to your account could port your phone number out the self serve website shows both your phone number and account number.